Sphinx moths, at least the ones I've found, are pretty
darned big for a bug. It took me a while to be comfortable
picking them up, but now it's rather fun to see how long I
can get them to perch on my finger for photographs before
they fly off.

If the moth's name is underlined, you can click on the moth
or its name to see larger pictures and find out more about
the moth. If it's nameless, I haven't figured out what it is
yet, and will add a name when I identify it.

...sometimes I just don't find them in groups of 4,
so check back to see what else I find

These large thumbnail images might help you identify a moth that you've found. I'm still looking for
more South Florida moths to photograph and put here. Sometimes it's hard to get them to sit still while
I take their picture.

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butterflies.heuristron.net

Someone recently asked me if moths bite, so I had to
add the question. No, they don't; they can't bite. Adult
moths & butterflies have a proboscis, not a mouth. The
proboscis is like a long curled up straw on their face that
they unroll and stick into flowers to drink nectar.

It is
flying, with just its front legs on the flower. See the
brown proboscis sticking out of its face and going into the
flower? That is how the moth eats. So, do moths bite? No,
they don't have teeth, or even a mouth, so they can't bite.
The same goes for butterflies.

This is a Pluto Sphinx Moth.
Look between its green eyes, and then down just a tiny bit.
Do you see that short brown line that runs top to bottom?
That is its proboscis. When they aren't sipping nectar, they
keep their proboscis curled up, protected, and out of their
way.

Have you ever used the tooters that kids blow through
at birthday parties? You blow in them, and they unroll and
make noise. When you stop blowing, they roll right back up
to the whistle part. If you hold one upside-down (so it
rolls up on the bottom, not the top), that's similar to how
a proboscis rolls up.

Moths, butterflies, and other bugs do have tiny claws
that help them hold on to their perch. This
Ello Sphinx Moth
was holding on to me with its claws, but they're so small I
couldn't feel them at all.